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Australian men's rugby Sevens coach Tim Walsh says the team's goal for Tokyo is to prepare without regret in the hope of a gold medal.
Tasked with leading the Australian men's rugby Sevens side to gold at the Tokyo Olympics, head coach Tim Walsh says the plan is simple.
His side needs to prepare without regret.
Walsh's team will contest an Olympics warm-up event this weekend against Fiji and New Zealand in the Oceania Sevens, and while they wont show their full hand the coach is buoyed at the prospect of preparing against the world's elite.
Fiji are the reigning Olympic champions and New Zealand have dominated the international men's Sevens circuit, winning 13 titles.
Information on global competition is scarce, and a heavy emphasis has been placed on vital fixtures in Townsville.
"Three out of the top four best in the world are playing in this tournament so you really can't ask for much better preparation than what we're able to achieve this weekend," he said.
"We're going a little bit blind (to Tokyo) in terms of we don't know what everybody else is doing, where they're at ... there's a little bit intel out there.
"Our objective is to prepare without regret, do Australia proud, do rugby proud, and when we end up in quarantine for two weeks after the Olympics, we're not defining ourselves by the result, it's how we prepare and how we're performing for Australia."
The coach added there's no competition with the Australian Women's side who head to Tokyo looking to defend their title.
But for back Joe Pincus, the Oceania Sevens is an opportune test against the sport's elite and he says their matches against New Zealand are crucial.
"We relish having to verse them and it's really good because we're going to have to play them in the Olympics in our pool," he told reporters.
"Hopefully we can get some good performances and some wins, but also, it's all going to be about the process this weekend.
"It might not be the end result, as long as we're still heading in the right direction heading into Tokyo."
